PHILADELPHIA -- Bryce Harper is still one of the best hitters in the game.
Just ask him.
"I know when I’m going well, I’m one of the best in baseball," he said on July 9 in San Francisco.
That comment came on the heels of Harper recording four extra-base hits in a game for the first time in his career. But it's proven to be not just an off-the-cuff remark.
Now, that part should come as no surprise. Harper has always chosen his words carefully, whether he's talking about himself, his teammates or the team as a whole.
The part that is a bit of a surprise, however, is the bluntness. Typically one to deflect praise, Harper doubled down on the comments over the weekend.
"I'm one of the best players in the game," he said on Friday night. "I've just got to keep doing it, keep going."
Harper is a two-time MVP and an eight-time All-Star. He's won four Silver Slugger Awards, a Home Run Derby, a National League Championship Series MVP Award and an NL Rookie of the Year trophy.
His next home run will be the 350th of his career.
So it's not the validity of Harper's comments that raises some eyebrows, but more so the motive behind them.
“I’m not really sure what to make of it, to tell you the truth," manager Rob Thomson said. "Although he is one of the best players in the game -- so, he’s telling the truth. But I don’t know what he’s trying to say, or if he’s even trying to say anything.”
Maybe he's not. But that would be unlike Harper -- especially to do so multiple times in such a short span.
The savvy veteran, who usually has a reason behind everything he says publicly, has been known to latch onto certain mantras and use them ad nauseam.
If this is the latest, the question is why?
Maybe it's as simple as Harper is simply reminding himself -- more than anyone else -- that he indeed remains a potential game-changing player in the middle of the lineup for a team with World Series aspirations.
Plagued by right wrist pain for much of the past two seasons, Harper hasn't replicated his 2021 MVP campaign, when he hit .309 with 35 home runs and a 1.044 OPS. He hasn't posted an OPS above .900 since.
He has an .869 OPS this season, but that number has jumped 57 points since the end of June. He's slashing .320/.414/.700 in 13 games this month.
Teammate Kyle Schwarber called it “prime Bryce.”
"This is the best I've felt in the last year probably," Harper said. "I'm really happy where I am -- healthy, strong. Just trying to be the best player I can and keep going out there and being No. 3 and doing my job. And being one of the best in the game."
There it was again.
Maybe it is just a reminder to himself. Or maybe he is deflecting to the benefit of his teammates in typical Harper fashion, albeit in an atypical way.
With so many questions about the Phillies' lack of offensive production over the past couple of months, it’s possible Harper is steering the focus toward himself as opposed to others, particularly in the lower half of the order.
After all, as starter Jesús Luzardo put it: "When Bryce goes, I think we all go."
To that point, the Phillies are 30-16 when Harper just so much as gets a hit. That’s a 105-win pace. They’re 12-13 when he’s held hitless, as he was in Sunday afternoon’s 8-2 loss to the Angels at Citizens Bank Park. Beyond that, the Phils are 9-3 when Harper homers and 22-4 when he drives in at least one run.
“Other guys have to hit, too, and they have to get going,” Thomson said. “But Harp does energize the group when he's rolling.”
Even when Harper is hitting like one of the best in baseball, the Phillies need more than just him and Schwarber, especially with Alec Bohm sidelined.
Maybe that help comes from the guys already on the roster stepping up. Maybe it comes from No. 3 prospect Justin Crawford, who continues to hit well at Triple-A. Or maybe it’s from someone brought in by president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski ahead of the July 31 Trade Deadline.
“Obviously, Dombo is going to do his job and get what he thinks is best for our team,” Harper said. “But we've got 26 guys in here that need to do the job every day, and we've got to be better.”
Harper continuing to be “one of the best” would certainly help.
“He looks great,” Thomson said. “Bottle him up and keep him right there.”